Locomotive rod and counterbalance mechanism



Patented oct. 13, 1925.

WILLIAM E. WOODARID, OF IIEORIEIS'I.` Eil-LS, NEW YORK.

i LocoMoTIvE non .AND CONTERBALANCE ,MECHANISM l Application med may aiss. serial Na 27,433.

To all whom t may concern.'

Beit known that I, WILLIAM' E. WOOD- y ARD', a citizen of the United? States, residing at Forest Hills, in the countyl of Queens. and State of New York, have invented cer.

tain new and useful Improvements inLoco motive Rod and Counterbalance Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to locomotive rod and counterbalance mechanism, and its nature, objects, and advantages will be understood from the following.

In locomotive design it is customaryto counterbalance the drivers fol' both rotating and reciprocating weights, andit isnecessary to place the counterbalance inside the planeof the coupling rods. Thismeans that the portion ofthe counterbalance which counteracts the reciprocating weight is approximately one lfoot inside .the plane of the reciprocating parts. sitates the employment of what is in reality an .excess weight in the co-unterbalance, producing heavy dynamic augment, i. e., a pro-l portionately great pressure on the rails when the force is downward and a proportionately greater lifting actionon the wheels when the force is upward. Detrimental effects as to rail life and slippage follow. 1

`Inj accordance with my invention,'I prol.pose to .decrease the dynamic augment to a minimum, to thereby reduce. the detrimental elfects thereof.

I-Iow the foregoing, together with such lother objects and advantages as may hereinafter appear, or are incident to my 1n vention, are realized, isillustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings,

wherein- I Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the drivers and the rods of a locomotive embodying my invention; and i Fig. 2 is a plan View ofFig. 1.

In the drawings, I have shown a motive havingfour sets ofdrivers, 1,72, 3 and 4, although Vthe invention is capable of other applications. i l

Driver 2 has what may be termed the main crank pin v5; driver No.. 1 has a'pin 6; and drivers Nos.- 3 and 4 have crank pins 7 and 8. V i

l Drivers Nos. 1 and 2- are4 coupled by a side rod 9, lying ina plane immediately adj acen-t the plane of the drivers. The main or connecting rod, indicated as a whole byv the reference letter A, lies in a plane outside the This in turn neces.

plane of the side rod 9. This main rod is of articulated construction but is-unitary from an operative standpoint, and com- -prises the three members 10, 11 and 12. These members are respectively secured` to.

gether, as by bushings 13 and 1'4 passing through the forked ends 14 and 15 of the members 10 and 11 respectively, and through the eye ends 16 and 17 of the'members 11 and 12, respectively. Within the bushings 13 and 14 are ioating bearing sleeves t18, as more fully set forth in my copending ap pli'cation, Serial No. 27,432, filed May 2nd, 1925.` It will be seen bushings 13 and 14 form push and pull connections for the m'ain rod parts, distributing the thrusts over the three pins 5, 7 and 8, and that the main rod parts lie in one plane, which is well out from the plane of drivers Nos. 3 and 4.

By this construction, I am enabled to counterbalance as follows'z-I equip drivers Nos. 1 and 2 with counterbalance weights 19,

which weights provide for substantially only rotating balance and, therefore,'arecorrespondingly small. I equip drivers Nos. 3 and 4 with counterbalance weights 20, which weights provide for both reciprocatmg and rotating balance. The weights 20 can be extended laterally very nearly to the plane of the main rod. In other words, the

reciprocating balance'is brought very close to the plane in which the reciprocating parte work, .and the amountof weight provided for reciprocating balancel can be cut down with the consequent decrease in the dynamic augment above referred to. The weights 20 may be of substantially the same 'cross-section as the .weight 19 on the forward. driver,

the distance between the rear pair of drivers and the main rod being such that the desired amountof wei ht can be obtained by merely' lengthening `t e weights.

Itwill, of course, be understood that the major part of the reciprocating weights, such as the cross-head, piston and pistonV rod, are not shown.

I claim: i

1. The l combination with a locomotive having more than two sets of drivers, a main crank ,pin on an intermediate driver,

an articulated main rod coupled to said main pin and to thev wheel or wheels to the rear of the wheel carrying such main prin, the parts of the main rod extending in the same verticall plane, rod means coupling the main pin carrying wheel to the wheel or wheels in an' articulated main rod coupled to said main pin and to the wheel or wheels to the rear of the wheel carrying such main pin,

the parts of the main rod extending in the lsame vertical plane, rod means couplmg the main pin carrying wheel to the wheel or l,wheels in advance thereof, said means extending in a plane inside the plane of the main rod, a rotating' counterbalance block on the wheel or wheels vin advance of main crank pin carrying wheel, and a rotating and reciprocating eounterbalance block on the wheel or wheels to the rear of said pin carrying wheel extended laterally outward to just short of the plane' in which the main rod works.

3. The combination with a locomotive having more than two sets of drivers, a main crank pin onan intermediate driver, a main rod coupled to said pin and coupling rod means extending rearwardly from said pin and lying in the same vertical plane as the main rod, coupling rod means extending forwardly from said pin and lying in a plane intermediate the wheels and the main rod, counterbalance means on the wheel or wheels in advance of said intermediate driver, and counterbalance meanson the wheel or wheels to the rear of said driver carried laterally outward to just short of the plane in which the main rod works.

4. The combination with a locomotive having more than two sets of drivers, a main crank pin on an intermediate driver, a main rod coupled to said pin and couplingrod means extending forwardly from said pin and lying inside the plane of the main rod, and' coupling rod means extending rearwardly from said pin and lying outside the plane of said forwardly extending rod means, eounterbalance means on the wheel or wlieelslin advance of the said intermediate driver, and counterbal'ancemeans on the wheel or wheels to 'the rear of saidintermediate driver carried laterally outward beyond'the plane oi' said forwardly extending rod means.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

WILLIAM E. WOODARD. 

